What did you want to be when you grew up? Was an astronaut at the top of your list? It is often one of the first careers to come to mind when thinking about STEM careers – and it is a pretty cool one! But when it comes to getting kids interested in STEM, there are so many more fields open to them. Check out these exciting career paths that kids can start exploring today:

Robotics. Robotics has to be at the top of the list when it comes to cool STEM careers. From NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover (MER) to robotic arms used to perform surgeries (like the da Vinci Surgical System), robotics will continue to grow. For kids interested in robotics and flying, they might find drone technology interesting.

Hacker. Wait. What? That’s right. Ethical hackers will continue to be in high demand to help protect businesses, the government, the military and all of us from the threats of unethical hacking. As more and more of our information is stored online, the threat of data breaches increases. According to Security Magazine, “hackers attack every 39 seconds.” So now kids can look beyond software development and IT support (two careers that will continue to grow) to careers focused on improving cybersecurity.

Storm tracker. Of course science is the backbone of the study of weather. Technology now plays such a critical role in storm tracking. As technology improves, hopefully people will be able to prepare far ahead of devastating storms. Storms aren’t the only natural phenomena that wreak havoc. Since volcanoes and earthquakes also pose significant threats, volcanologists and seismologists are important careers. And we can’t forget the engineers and architects who design buildings that can withstand hurricane-force winds or that can stand up to earthquakes.

Jobs connected in some way to science, technology, engineering and mathematics are endless. Some of these may be jobs that kids often don’t see as having the cool factor, but we know that these jobs still have great career potential. Jobs for financial analysts, accountants, mathematicians and psychologists, just to name a few, aren’t going away anytime soon. It’s important that we give our kids the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of STEM now, so they will have the fundamentals needed to develop skills to fill the job demands of the future.